-
Help your emergency room team fight burnout
Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied HealthcareIt's a fact of life: the emergency department of any hospital can be a chaotic, hectic and frustrating environment for overworked doctors and nurses. And the pressure is nonstop: a University of Maryland study found that almost half of all U.S. medical care is given by ER health providers. Obviously, that level of responsibility can only add to those workers' stress levels, and raise their risk of short- and long-term burnout. Try these constructive, research-based solutions to help your team out.
-
Avoiding the organizational pain of high nurse turnover
Keith Carlson Healthcare AdministrationIn healthcare and nursing, employee turnover can have an outsized impact on staff morale, the financial bottom line, and the retention of organizational memory and knowledge. In the 21st century, healthcare staff come and go for a variety of reasons; that said, prudent and forward-thinking organizations work diligently and consistently to combat inordinately high levels of nurse attrition. The University of New Mexico reports that hospitals stand to lose $5.2 to $8.1 million annually in direct relation to nurse turnover.
-
Antibiotic-resistant UTIs are on the rise in emergency departments
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareUrinary tract infections (UTIs) account for 8.3 million doctor visits, 1 million emergency department visits, and 100,000 hospitalizations annually. Although accurate diagnosis of a UTI depends on both the presence of symptoms and a positive urine culture, in most outpatient settings this diagnosis is made without the benefit of culture. When cultures are obtained, however, many of these infections are often caused by drug-resistant bacteria. The rise of drug-resistant bacteria was recently noted in a California emergency department.
-
Tighter opioid laws may not work
Jason Poquette PharmaceuticalMore restrictive laws surrounding opioid prescriptions do not always have the results they intended. That appears to be the conclusion of a study published recently in a JAMA Surgery article dated Aug. 22. The study focused on the impact of the October 2014 change of hydrocodone products from Schedule III to Schedule II. The law intended to reduce the total quantity of hydrocodone prescribing, and it did. The number of hydrocodone products (HCP) prescribed across the nation declined significantly. But the recent study noted that the schedule change appears to have resulted in a slight increase in the amount of opioids prescribed initially.
-
New study suggests progress in graft survival is slowing down
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareThe last 30 years have seen significant improvements in the lifespan of a transplanted kidney, but improvements in organ transplant survival in the U.S. and Europe have slowed recently, says a new international study. Predictably, this has researchers worried. Specifically, the study found that between 1986 and 1995, 75 percent of transplanted organs were still functioning five years after transplantation. The five-year kidney survival rate had reached 84 percent between 2006 and 2015.
-
New study shows that e-cigarettes may damage DNA
Dr. Denise A. Valenti Medical & Allied HealthcareThe attractions and availability of electronic cigarettes have long been known to influence adolescents and teenagers to take up vaping and smoking. Along with an increase in use comes an increased risk of harm to health. A recent study has identified an additional, previously unidentified, threat to health with the use of electronic cigarettes. The study found that the use of electronic cigarettes and inhaling the vapors alters saliva DNA.
-
New strategies to facilitate patient advocacy at your hospital
Lisa Mulcahy Healthcare AdministrationAs a hospital administrator, your goal is to help your patients become as empowered and informed about their health decisions as possible. Yet, you're no doubt familiar with the very common problem of patients having difficulty advocating for themselves. They may feel intimidated in a healthcare setting, so they don't speak up about what they want. Patient advocacy is the obvious solution to the problem — but many healthcare organizations aren't tapping into all of its potential.
-
New approach to mapping tuberculosis paves way for new treatments
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareMore than 10 million people worldwide became infected with tuberculosis (TB) in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and there were 1.7 million deaths associated with TB that year. Despite the significant effect TB has on human health, researchers know relatively little about the transmission and pathogenesis of tuberculosis. A group of researchers recently provided a new look at an old adversary. The team discovered interactions between tuberculosis and human proteins that could someday help in the development of new approaches to combating TB infection.
-
Hospital execs prepare to raise salaries to fight staff shortages
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationHospitals and health systems are continuing to experience shortages of physicians, nurses and even mental health providers, which may be a challenge in regard to reducing labor costs, per Navigant analysis conducted by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Because of potential shortages of these positions, hospitals are projecting higher labor budgets for the coming year, and these same hospital leaders anticipate needing to offer increased compensation to fill these roles.
-
New study blames 3 factors for rapidly increasing physician burnout
Lynn Hetzler Healthcare AdministrationPhysician burnout is a serious problem, for both providers and for patients. In fact, 83 percent of respondents to an April 2018 survey said that burnout was a moderate or serious problem for many clinicians and clinical leaders in their organization. Burnout among physicians has already reached epidemic proportions, and the percentage of physicians experiencing symptoms of burnout is growing, according to a new paper written by University of California, Riverside School of Medicine doctors.
All Healthcare Administration Articles